“More Strivings Within” (“More Holiness Give Me, Phillip Paul Bliss). Internal strife is probably something that most of us don't need more of than we are already dealing with. But the truth of the matter is, the more that we make room for and invite in the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost into our hearts and minds, the more that the Spirit of the Lord will strive with those aspects of ourselves that are proud, stubborn, selfish, deceitful, shortsighted, narrow minded, and self destructive. The battles within our soul will not be pleasant or easy in the beginning, but as we wrestle with the Lord and learn to submit ourselves to His will, just as a child submits to the father, then with each new striving within, we can become holier, happier, and more Christlike. If we have allowed ourselves to become lulled into a false sense of security, if we say to ourselves that we have no more need to repent because all is well with Zion, if we have let our spiritual sensitivity to become so dulled that we are past feeling the prickings of our conscience, then we need to pray for more strivings within. It is going to hurt to cut back the thorns and the weeds that we have allowed to choke the fruitfulness out of the seeds of faith that we have planted, and to dig up the stones of stubbornness and pride that have settled unyielding inside our hearts, but after the strivings and the struggles we will enjoy a greater peace and tranquility than we have ever known.
